Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana has revived calls for the Council of State to be scrapped.
The discussion on the uselessness of the Council of State became rife especially when calls for the amendment or abolition of the 1992 Constitution became topical.
The Council of State was established by Articles 89 to 92 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana: “There shall be a Council of State to counsel the President in the performance of his functions.” But the Council’s advice is not binding on the President as he can choose to take or reject.
Meanwhile, huge sums of monies are being used to pay their allowances and ex-gratia without them having any impact on state affairs.
Adding his voice to the conversation Monday, March 20, 2023, Prof. Ransford Gyampo of the University of Ghana said the modus of constitution of the council itself is wrong.
According to him, the President should have no locus in determining who becomes a member of the Council of State.
Likening the institution to that of the chieftaincy in the traditional society, the Professor said chiefs were always born to the existence of a council which gave the latter the power to spite whenever the chief went wrong.